


Being Seen

by cipherfresh



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Alien Planet, Canon Queer Relationship, Dancing, Mentioned James T. Kirk, Mentioned Spock (Star Trek), Other, Pet Sitting, Queen (Band) References, References to ABBA, Slice of Life, Technobabble, Teenage Dorks, USS Discovery (Star Trek)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:43:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29792094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cipherfresh/pseuds/cipherfresh
Summary: Some interactions with Gray and Adira around the USS Discovery. I give a sci-fi handwave to giving Gray a corporeal body because I really wanted him to pet Grudge. Gray and Adira get to be regular teenagers.
Relationships: Adira Tal/Gray Tal, Cleveland "Book" Booker/Michael Burnham, Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Being Seen

**Author's Note:**

> Wouldn't have done this without Max and Taro, who encouraged me to write. Incredibly grateful for their encouragement.

The Sphere data was really something that impressed Adira about Discovery, as if the perfectly-preserved vintage 23rd technology wasn't good enough. They were looking back over a computation computer table as Michael punched in an incident report about the day on Trill. Their hair was still wet from the pond, and they had a towel around their shoulders. It felt like a cape, Adira thought.  
"I'm almost done," Michael assured. "I'll take you to the sonic showers. I'm glad the Trill Pond wasn't cold, right?" Michael held out her hand, then after a moment ruffled Adira's hair when they didn't back away.  
When she finished filling out the report, Michael gestured Adira to follow her. They left the spare computer room, and Adira tugged on their fingers with their hand.  
"Michael?" Adira asked, as the two of them turned a corner.  
She turned her head. "Yes?"  
"Th-thank you. For down there on Trill."  
Michael smiled, and acknowledged Adira with a nod. 

Michael had been called into Engineering for her opinion on how to replace recent damage caused by Osyraa. She walked in to Engineering, to see Paul talk to empty space near Adira, Paul running a frustrated hand through his hair "Does Gray have any ideas?" he asked. Adira focused on the same empty space next to them.  
"Nope." Adira confirmed. Paul nodded, readjusting his strategy. 

"Paul? Adira?" Michael asked. Paul made looked at Adira questioningly, then at the same empty space, then made eye contact with Adira again. Adira shook their head.  
"Michael." Paul greeted, turning to smile at her, lifting himself on his tip-toes then casually resting back on his heels in a swift motion.  
"Has Engineering gotten any progress on the fried backplane routes?" she asked. Adira shook their head. Michael nodded in acknowledgement. "How long have you two been at this?"  
Paul walked back over to the engineering backplane board. "Three hours."  
Michael held out her hand. "Adira, come with me. Let's get a bite to eat."

Gray followed, trying to count something on his fingers. "The diagnostic didn't work, the conductor beacon didn't work, rewiring it didn't work...I'm more of a history guy. I wish I could help with Engineering."  
"I know." Adira admitted, flexing their fingers distractedly. "I think that's why Michael got me. She's trying to distract me."  
Gray acknowledged with a "hm."  
Adira followed Michael to the Mess Hall, and she put down a PADD on a table. Adira recognized the conservationist sitting there, who Michael had called Book. Adira smiled at him awkwardly, and he looked up from the other PADD in his hands, and returned a friendly smile, before taking a drink from the cup next to him. Michael went to go to a replicator, and gestured for Adira to sit down. Adira did, and readjusted the collar on their shirt. Book looked up at them.  
"Your friend going to sit down?" Book asked, well-intentioned.  
Adira shared a look with Gray. "You can see- you can see Gray?"  
Book looked at Adira again, then to the space Adira perceived Gray as standing. "I don't see anyone there, but at the same time, I see- no, I feel someone there."  
It clicked. Michael said her boyfriend was an empath.  
"Who do you see?" Michael asked, having approached the table with a replicated tray and lunch. 

"...That makes sense." Michael said, as Adira stopped to take a breath from the lengthy explanation. It shouldn't feel embarrassing to explain, but they feel embarrassed. Haunted by their dead boyfriend, who's also their past self. It sounds awful when you put it like that.  
"It does?"  
Michael nodded with an air of common sense. "I read the dossier on Trill and it's inhabitants when we jumped to the future. Adira, this makes sense with medical scans you've received on Discovery, and I trust Book's senses."  
"You didn't trust my senses on Tensanel IV." Book teased.  
"That was one time." she smiled, remembering the spectacularly failed mission. "Anyway, this is about Adira. And- Gray."  
Gray beamed to Adira at the spark of recognition. Visibility, in a way.

"Who else knows about you an' Gray?" Book asked. "If you don't want people to know."  
"Only Paul and Hugh. Gray and I have been spending a lot of time with them."  
Michael smiled at that. "They've really taken a liking to you- you two."  
Adira took a moment to eat, having to communicate for Gray to Michael and Book. Gray, although not on the receiving end of being perceived, could feel his presence to Book through his empathy. If he concentrated, he could make out Gray's location, and a humanoid figure.

"We'll find a way to help you be seen...truly seen. By everyone." 

Adira tried on the new Starfleet outfit in their quarters. Gray said it was cute, and Adira blushed. "It does! You look...official."  
"I hope I do. I'm an engineer on a Starfleet ship."  
Gray smiled back. "Have the computer play a song from Earth."  
Adira fixed their sleeves. "What century?"  
"Dunno. I like Earth music. It reminds me of you." 

They smiled again, and walked to the other side of the room, nervous energy frankly, making them feel a little bit nauseous. First day as a proper Discovery Starfleet officer.  
"Computer. Play a random song from Earth history."  
Zora took a moment to process the request, in the second it took a heart to beat. Gray and Adira felt a romantic, supportive, youthful love. The computer determined this was a good choice. 

"If you change your mind, I'm the first in line.  
Honey I'm still free, take a chance on me."

Gray and Adira perked up with recognition, and Adira swallowed the feeling in their throat. Cara Tal had listened to this song with their girlfriend. Tsalriss had shared that song from a list of similar songs produced in the era by multiple pre-warp planets. It had been on a playlist of other songs about romance from Alpha Quadrant planets. Cara and Tsalriss had danced to it together, and Adira and Gray were not one to break such a great tradition. The lyrics continued with "If you need me, let me know, gonna be around." and Gray and Adira took a mock-bow, them grabbed hands, and started to dance. Adira and Gray let themselves sing to it, dance around. Hopefully, this wouldn't be their last hurrah. 

Adira walked to Engineering, flexing their fingers nervously. 

"Are you ready?" Adira asked, sending one last nervous glance to their boyfriend.  
Gray grimaced, an expression of resigned fear. "Whenever you are." he confirmed. Adira let the silence linger.  
"Gray says he's ready." Book confirmed, relaxing his hand from the concentration required to hear him. 

"Sorry." Adira said wringing their hands. "Uh. Gray, if this fails, and-"  
Gray's resigned-smile dropped. "Come on. Please don't do that. I said I didn't want your last memory of me- if it is your last memory-"  
"To be all...sad. Right." Adira sniffed. Gray nodded, and gestured Adira over to the holo-projection chamber.  
Book looked over the controls, and wearily eyed the holo-emitter, with a stalk of metal growing from it. A live plant, to facilitate organic growth. If it worked. Lots of organic material coalesced together in the shape of a Trill teenage body.  
"Here goes nothing." 

Michael for computer analysis, Paul for on-site engineering troubles, Book for empathetic detection of Gray (and moral support), Adira for their technological wit and proximity to Gray's consciousness, Paul activated the startup sequence. The large, whirring wheel in the back of the chamber began to spin at sonic barrier speeds, and the light-matter capsules began glowing painfully bright. The holo-emitter inside, rigged to the organic material was quickly hidden from view as the light-matter chambers became brighter. The chamber barked furiously with the perfectly-timed wheels, all the people outside quickly covering their ears from the sound.  
Just as quickly as the whirring started, it faded out, and a familiar voice, or more accurately, cough. The light faded.

A teenage boy with skinny brown Trill spots and dyed blue hair in a nondescript white outfit emerged from the chamber, then immediately fell over.  
Gray panted. Air. So weird having to breathe it again. He gave a weak thumbs-up after falling on his back, and his heavy breathing had a hint of laugher. "I made it." He confirmed, smiling. 

Adira reached down and held out a hand for Gray. Adira helped him up.  
The adults around them stood back. Facing each other, Gray initiated a hug. Adira buried their head in the crook of Gray's neck, just feeling him be there, whole, physical.  
When the two of them separated, after a long, long hug- Gray stepped back, and took a moment to register all the senses coming to him. Weight, oxygen, the feeling of his clothes, his cold skin, all of it. 

“How do you feel?” Adira asked.  
“Honestly?” said Gray. “Everything stings.”  
Adira sucked air between their teeth and let go of Gray’s hand. “-Sorry.”  
“I’m alright.”  
“Kids.” said Paul. “Gray, let’s get you to Sick Bay. Hugh needs to do some medscans.” Gray nodded, Adira held his hand. “I’m not leaving your side.”  
Book approached Gray. “So nice to finally see you, mate.”  
Gray got another hug, from Book this time, and stayed there a second, just feeling Book’s scratchy jacket. Real sensations. Textures. Book let go, and Paul came over to Adira and Gray. Paul held out an arm to put on both of their shoulders, and walked the two of them down to Sickbay. 

Hugh was waiting for them with an empty bed in Sick Bay, the scanning devices powering off as Gray's necessary scans finished.  
“Is there anything else I need to know?” Gray asked.  
“I can’t stress enough how important it is to tell me if something is wrong. Putting a consciousness like this into a living body has never been done before. Your body could have been slop.” Hugh emphasized, hoping the dark humor did it’s job to scare the boy just enough that he would listen to him.  
Gray nodded grimly, and retained eye contact with Hugh for a bit more. People seeing his eyes again was weird. "I'll help you up." said Hugh, lifting Gray off the bed. "There you go."  
Adira, vigilantly at his side, held out their hand for when Gray stood up.  
"I'm still taller than you." Adira teased.  
Gray gave a playful punch on the shoulder. "Shut up." He leaned in for a kiss. Adira accepted.

"Quit biting your nails." Paul said, pushing his hand on Gray's.  
"Sorry." he said. "I used to bite my nails. Then I stopped. It's just weird having a body again." Gray looked back over at Paul and Hugh.  
"Kinda know the feeling." Hugh sympathized, in a half-smile.

The four of them- Hugh, Paul, Gray and Adira were walking to the Transporter Room together. Hugh and Paul were needed for an away mission, and they were loath to end their conversation. Hugh carried his medical pack, Paul holding his tricorder and mobile engineering kit. They'd been called in, perhaps prematurely, but they'd find out on the surface. 

"Hey, Adira- Hi, Gray!" Tilly greeted on her way, walking in the group's direction.  
It took Gray by surprise for a moment, then he greeted her back.  
Tilly passed them, a spring in her step.  
"Gray? What was that about?" Adira asked.  
"I've been a ghost for a month or two. It's weird, people seeing me again."  
Adira put their hand on Gray's back, just a way of affirming he was still there. 

The four of them entered the transporter room. Paul and Hugh got on the pad. "Adira, beam us down." Combadge transporters were best for short distances, and Adira needed the practice on some of the older machinery, anyway. "And could you go watch Booker's cat? He's down for the away mission, and didn't get anyone to watch Grudge in time."  
"We got it." Gray assured, confidence in his voice. He turned to them, and Adira sent Hugh and Paul on their way, Paul grumbling about away missions. 

Adira liked that about Gray- he didn't seem to have a care in the world. Flexible, confident, he always knew what to day. They might have stood like a deer in headlights, worried about feeding Grudge the right food, or walking her, but Gray didn't worry about those things. He cared, obviously, but didn't get bogged down by the details. They liked him for that.  
Adira beamed the two down, and the comm beeped when the light faded. "Well done, Adira. I'll buzz you when we're ready to be beamed back up."  
"U-understood." Adira affirmed.  
"Book's quarters are down to the left, right?" Gray asked. Adira tried to remember. "Down the hall. To the left. Yeah." Gray smiled, and Adira couldn't help but return it.  
"Cat-sitting. Can't be too hard." Gray said, playfully elbowing Adira. Adira elbowed him back. The two of them giggled.

Adira dragged a hand across the hallway wall, Gray looking over at them and following suit. They approached Book's quarters, and the doors opened. Adira and Gray walked inside.  
"Grudge?" Adira called. Gray walked to the other side of Book's quarters. "Oh, I hear her." he said. Gray saw Grudge laying comfortably on a pile of some of Book's possessions, ignoring the heating pad installed for her specifically.  
"I haven't- " Gray positioned his arms around Grudge, then backed off. "-haven't held an animal in a long time. Adira, could you pick her up? I think I'll drop her."  
Adira gave him a look- "Seriously?" -but walked over and picked up Grudge.  
"Don't look at me." Gray said, half-joking. "It was weird typing again, y'know. I'm just being careful. I'm not completely used to being corporeal again."  
Adira went to pick up the cat, who was woken up by the touch, and leaned to Adira's hand. They put their hand down, and petted Grudge, feeling her deep fur.  
"C'mere." said Adira. "Feel her. She's really soft." Gray walked over, and petted Grudge as well. Grudge took a moment to stare at Gray.  
"Y'know, I always thought Grudge could see me. She acted so weird when I would be in the room. Not in the room, but, y'know."  
"Yeah." Adira confirmed. They hesitated, but then picked up the cat. Grudge purred. 

Adira held Grudge, and Gray walked over to Book's replicator. "The last cat food replicated, please." Light shone onto the replicator, and cat food formed. Gray shot a look back at Adira.  
"It's so, like-" Adira started, Gray taking the words out of their mouth. "Retro."  
"Retro!" Adira said. "When I was fixing some of the stuff in Engineering, when I first got here? My jaw dropped," Adira waved their hand to their jaw for effect, "The stuff was like, so old. They let people be in starships this old?"  
Gray smiled at that, as Adira continued. "They might as well have been churning butter! Like, 'Aw, hey, Tilly, did you name that round shape you carved out of rocks yet?'"

"I saw people walk around with PADDs the first few days," Gray said, "I thought it was a joke. No, people just walked around using PADDs to read stuff. Unbelievable."  
Adira laughed back at that. "Hah. Yeah." Gray walked over with the cat food, looking around for a cat bowl, spotting one. He went over, and poured the cat food in.  
"You- you read about, uhm historical figures. And it's like, yeah, they did everything the historical records say they did, but you don't think of them as real people. And Michael and Paul and everyone don't feel like they're historical figures." said Adira.  
Gray pondered that. "Huh. Do you wanna look at the archives? Michael probably knew someone famous. I bet she did." Gray said.  
The computer holo-screen booted up on a table in Book's quarters, the two teenagers looked through the Federation archive.

"Gray. Gray. This says Michael was Spock's adopted sister."  
Gray put down the PADD he was trying to use. "What?"  
Adira cast Michael's profile to a larger hologram. "Literally- adopted at ten years old."  
"Spock. The Spock. Half-human half-Vulcan, unification activist Spock-"  
"...we have to ask her about this."  
Gray leaned against the wall. "I'm- I'm reeling from this. I watched a holonovel documentary about James Kirk."  
"Was it the one where it theorized-"  
Gray nodded, he knew what Adira was talking about. "The archives also said the Discovery was destroyed in the twenty-two fifties, Jim Kirk hadn't met him yet."  
"We have to ask her what Spock was like as a kid. The Spock. The, actual Spock. I cannot believe."  
"Gray Tal, history dork, didn't know about Captain Spock's sister?" Adira asked, teasingly.  
"I didn't know Michael was a mutineer. The holonovel mentions a sister during his biography. Spock had a whole bunch of siblings, but he was such a private guy, he never talked about them. Some of them were declassified after the 2708 Starfleet Declassification Act."  
Adira vaguely recalled learning about that. "We're asking Michael about this."

A half hour more of digging through the digitized Archives, and Gray and Adira had pointed out funny or interesting findings as they came across them.  
“I’ve read historical fiction about Michael’s brother. What a sentence.” Gray continued. Grudge chimed in with a well-timed purr, Adira evidently having found a sweet spot behind her ears as they absentmindedly scratched Grudge. Gray looked back over at the cat. “Oh, that reminds me, did Paul say anything else? Do we need to walk her or something?”  
Adira tried to remember. “I don’t think he did, but it’s not a bad idea.” They stood up.  
Gray stood up as well. “You’re covered in cat hair. Here- let me-“  
Gray held out his hand, and wiped off some cat hair for them. “There you go.”  
“Don’t know what I’d do without you.” Adira quipped. "You ready to leave?" they asked.  
“Before we go- want to play another song?” Gray asked. Adira nodded.  
“Computer, play a random song from the Federation Archive.” Gray asked. 

“This thing called love, I just can't handle it. This thing called love, I must get round to it.”

“Come on, dance with me.” Gray said, grabbing Adira’s hands. The music played, and Gray let himself move around to the music, and Adira followed. Then, Adira started singing with the lyrics, and Gray accompanied them. 

“Crazy little thing called love-“  
“Crazy little thing called love.”

Gray and Adira walked up to each other, holding each other’s hands and cling their arms back and forth, in a very easy, fast-paced, high-energy dance to finish out the song.  
No need to say anything, the "I love you" was spoken through their holding on to each other. As the song ended, Gray closed the space between them, and pressed his forehead to Adira's, holding his partner to him. 

The two of them were interrupted by Adira's combadge beeping. "We need you down on the planet." Adira and Gray separated suddenly. Adira held out their hand in invitation, and Gray understood. He took their hand, and Adira used the badge to teleport down to the planet's surface.  
The planet was very pretty, Adira noted. A series of dwarf stars in the sky, a light green atmosphere, floating islands, a pleasantly warm climate.  
They looked around- Adira spotted Book. "Oi!" Book called, smiling. "You two." he said, gesturing them over. He crossed his arms. "Stamets said you watched my cat?"  
"She was very well behaved." Gray affirmed.  
Book smiled, a really genuine smile that made Adira feel a little less anxious about being suddenly called to the surface. "Grudge was great. Why are we down here? Paul says Engineers don't usually go on away missions."  
"We need all hands on deck." Book said. "We're not sure, but Michael wanted more people down on the surface for this mission, and I trust her."  
Gray nodded. "Down here just in case."  
"Where are Paul and Hugh?" Adira asked.  
"Down over there. They're working on countering some artificial interference- this is the closest we can beam in."  
Gray nodded, and looked around. "I just realized- I haven't been on a planet before, in this body. I remember being on a lot of them through Tal's other hosts-"  
"But this is your first planet, Gray."  
Gray nodded.  
"Your first time?" Book asked. "I've got to show you around. This planet has some stunning wildlife. C'mon." 

Gray was very excited- he commented on the air quality, the insects, the feeling of walking through the tall grass, the smell of the flowers, the look of the stars in the sky lighting up the place. Book explained some detail about the flowers on a path, what each flower meant in the planet's culture, what made them different, why they were that color, and what animals fed on them. One of the flowers, Book had said, meant romantic, supportive love, and it had a very distinctive color pattern- if they got the chance, Adira wanted to pick a few of them and give them to Gray. They'd have to be subtle about it, though. 

"Book?" Adira asked, as they walked to the communication hub.  
"Yeah?"  
"Can you tell us about your year with Michael?"  
Book considered that. "Anything specific?"  
"Uh, no. A funny story or something."  
"I've definitely got a few." Book said. "When I first met Michael...."

Book recounted the tale of the transworm, and Gray responded back with a story he remembered, of when he and Adira broke a replicator on the generation ship they grew up on. Book was then reminded of another story, telling the one of his earliest memory of Grudge, stopping to point out notable flora when they passed it. 

"There's Michael." Book said. He walked up to the carved walkway, overlooking an artificial pond. Michael was kneeling near it, documenting something on a PADD. "Something wrong with the water?" Book asked.  
Michael looked up at him, and smiled, recognizing his voice. "No, nothing wrong. I'm interested. There's animal specimens here that were extinct in my time." she explained. She dipped her free hand into the water, and wiggled her fingers. "These are- ray-finned fish, if I recall correctly."  
Gray took that as his cue to kneel next to her and stick his hand in the water, too. He recognized a fish from Qo'noS, and it nibbled at his fingers once it was attracted by ripples in the water.  
"Those'll bite your fingers off, y'know." Book said.  
Gray quickly retracted his hand from the water. "Really?"  
"No." Book said. "I'm just kidding. Krallans are attracted to blood."  
Gray splashed clean pond water at Book in retaliation.  
"Very funny. But we don't have time for this." Michael instructed. 

Now walking with Michael, the four of them made their way to the communication hub. It led to a small hill, with an official-looking building and boxes spread haphazardly on the surrounding orange grass. Paul and Hugh were there, Hugh waving at the sight of Adira and Gray. Adira, spotting him, relaxed their shoulders absentmindedly.  
"Do either of you have a hypospanner?" Paul asked, from up on the hill with the base. Gray pat his pockets, and his jacket inside pocket. "Nope." Adira shook their head with Gray. Paul went back inside the building.  
"Kids-" Hugh said. "Could you go look in the boxes around here? There's got to be one. And Paul says, do it quick." Hugh emphasized, looking back at Paul, quickening his pace to go help Lieutenant Paleth back inside.  
The two teenagers split up. This was the perfect opportunity for Adira to pick one of those flowers for Gray, the one Book said meant love. Perfect chance. They spotted the closest box, leaned down, and quickly pocketed a handful of them, and then looked through the first container for a hypospanner. Book was looked at the outdoor hologram projector table, and Michael followed Paul inside.  
Gray found a hypospanner first, and he rushed to the building to get it to Paul. Adira saw him dust off his hands on his pants and walk back outside. "Book?" he asked. "What was that about?"  
Book gestured Adira over, crisis averted. "I'm a conservationist, not an engineer. I dunno. Was 'mportant, though." 

Not wanting to disturb the adults, Gray took Adira's hand, having tied his jacket around his waist, the two of them walking around under the warm dwarf stars.  
"It's odd." Gray said after a while. "I can remember- being on lots of planets from our previous hosts- Jovar visited all those inhabited asteroids, remember?"  
Adira nodded. "Yeah- Cannanir was pissed at them- us."  
"But this is the first time- I've been on a planet, a real one. Me, Gray. I kind of miss artificial gravity. It felt lighter."  
"I miss the ship, kinda." Adira responded. "Not a lot. I wish I'd saved the quilt in time."  
Gray put a reassuring hand on Adira's back. "Don't beat yourself up over that."  
"Oh, no, I don't. I just wish I'd saved it. It was comfortable." 

The two of them continued to explore the area around the communication hub. Michael checked in with Adira over combadge, telling them to be back to the base within a few hours. Both of them agreed they'd be back by then, and set off to see what else they could find without getting too far. 

Gray had spotted them first-Trill eyesight was usually better than Human eyesight, but there was enough variety in sightedness that the difference was negligible. Gray squinted his eyes. "See those?" he asked.  
"What?"  
Gray grabbed Adira's hand and started to run. Adira kept up with him, and they closed the distance to what Gray saw in the distance.  
"Woah."  
"I know, right?" 

Floating islands, hardly bigger than the two-story building Michael and Paul had gone into bobbed up and down peacefully. The shadows under them attracted many small animals, who scattered to hide under other shadows when Gray approached the closest one to the ground.  
"This is such a bad idea." Adira admitted, Gray helping them up.  
The two of them stood on the lowest island, and Gray swung his legs over the edge. Adira sat with him, Adira feeling their heartbeat increase, as the island was a decent height off the ground. They could see the kilometer or so from the floating islands to the communication hub and building, the artificial ponds, and the pathway to the beam-in site. Gray leaned his head on Adira's shoulder. 

Several hours later, the sky had darkened with incoming clouds. Book had an eye on the kids, having helped get Gray down from a tree he'd climbed excitedly, then couldn't crawl back down from. His combadge buzzed.  
"Book." Michael's voice came through. "Take Gray and Adira back to the beam-in site. We'll meet you up there."  
"Got it." Book said. He smiled, and gestured the two of them over.  
They started the walk back to the beam-in point. "Book, what was with the water and the communication hub?" Gray asked.  
"I don't know all of it, but it's something about an anomaly in the planet's magnetic field."  
Gray nodded. "And we fixed, whatever we came down here for?"  
"Almost. Culber and Stamets are down helping Lieutenant Paleth, 'cos the magnetic field has screwed with her cybernetic parts. She'll be alright." 

Adira patted their pockets. The flowers were still there. They got in position next to Gray, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Gray. I got some of the dalesome flowers. Because they, y'know, represent love." Adira took the flowers, and presented them to Gray. Maybe they should have thought out a speech.  
"No way." he said. His tone wasn't upset, but Adira stopped in their tracks, their excited smile from executing their master plan dropped. "What?"  
Gray stopped with them. He reached for his jacket inside pocket- he'd put it back on as it got colder- and produced a handful of colorful dalesome flowers.  
"I guess we had the same idea, huh?" Gray said.  
The warmth returned to Adira. They traded flowers, none of them having looked exactly the same. 

"How does that flower-petal thing go?" Adira asked. "He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me."  
"I think I can say, he loves you very much." 

After a few minutes, it began sprinkling rain. It came very sudden, and Adira gasped with the sudden drops on their head. Gray looked up, then back down. He handed his flowers to Adira, and unzipped his jacket.  
"Here, get under." He said, holding it with one hand, moving it to cover Adira's head and neck. Adira handed the flowers back when Gray had the jacket positioned to cover both of them. They started running, to catch up with Book and not get wet. One of them started laughing, then the other one did, and before they reached the beam-out point, they dropped the flowers and Gray's jacket. Gray started cheering and hollering, Adira laughing with him as the rain picked up. Adira began yelling, too, and they danced in the rain, jumping and waving around, wiping the water from their eyes and letting themselves just be free, in a singular moment. 

Gray put his jacket back up, and covered himself and Adira again. They picked up the flowers, and raced to Book, who was waiting for them. "What will I do with you two?" he teased, lovingly.


End file.
